


You Helped Me See

by SirenAlpha



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 21:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8637874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirenAlpha/pseuds/SirenAlpha
Summary: Ginny is past her moment of crisis. She just has to figure out what to do next. All she really knows for sure at this moment is she wants to keep in touch with Cara.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this right after the episode with Cara came out. Haven't really gotten a chance to watch anything past that so that's kind of why it's a little cut off. I wanted this out before I saw anymore. 
> 
> The title comes from "Catch My Breath" by Kelly Clarkson

Ginny stares at the new contact in her phone. Maybe she shouldn’t call, doesn’t owe this woman any more than one night of her time. That night changed things, though. She should say something. She bites her lip and calls, telling herself she won’t answer because it’s too late. 

“Hello?” Cara asks. 

“Hi, it’s Ginny.”

“Yeah, I know. I do have you saved to my phone,” she says with a tone of amusement. “I didn’t actually think you’d call though. I thought, maybe, you might be mad at me.”

“No, no, not at all,” she hurries to get out. “I’m not mad about anything. You did a lot more than I had any right to expect of you.”

“It’s no big.”

“No, it is big, really big,” she says. “What you did for me, both that night and then handing that video over...it’s big. Like, they have me talking to a psychiatrist and stuff.”

“You’re...okay with that?”

“I’m not sure how I feel about talking to her, and, like, emotions and stuff. I’ve never done anything like it before. I do think it’ll help, though. Like, I’m better after one session. I think she can help me with whatever happens next, you know? Cause something is always going to happen next.”

“That’s great. I mean, I wasn’t sure what they’d be able to do to help you, but I knew it would be more than I could do. I really glad that they’re doing right by you, and you’re getting some help.”

“I,” Ginny says the pauses. This wasn’t something she talked about with her therapist. This wasn’t even something she’d put anywhere close to words until just now. She just had to ask. “I want to know if it’d be okay to keep in touch with you.”

“Yeah, of course,” Cara says brightly. “I gave you my contact info for a reason. I just thought you wouldn’t use it.”

“Sorry, I gave that impression.”

“It’s just something that happens when people get really drunk and have emotions. Not everyone takes it well. It’s not against you or anything,” she explains hurriedly. 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t really know, I guess,” Ginny says a little awkwardly. “I just know that I had a really great time with you. I figured it was worth a shot to see if you’d want to hang out again, and hopefully I won’t be a total mess during it.”

Cara laughs. “Yeah, anything you want, babe.”

“Great,” Ginny says, relieved. “I can text you availabilities and stuff tomorrow when I can actually figure out what my schedule is.”

“Yeah, it’s a lot easier on my end now that I don’t have a job.”

“Oh my god, that’s right. Good luck with finding a new one.”

“I’ll be able to find something, don’t worry about it. Just text me tomorrow.”

“I will, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Ginny hangs up feeling relieved and a little breathless. 

In the morning, Ginny texts Cara her availabilities. They have a patchy conversation over text to work out when they’d be able to meet up. Over the course of the day, they decide to meet up for an afternoon in a week and a half. 

Ginny has a session with Dr. Barton before then. She doesn’t start with that, but it does eventually come up. “I’m still in contact with Cara, the girl who gave management the video that got me stuck with you.”

“Oh,” Dr. Barton says.

“What? You don’t have anything smart to say to that?” Ginny asks. 

“I have several things I could say to that. Do you have anything you want to add?”

“We’re going to meet up in about a week,” she says with a shrug. “I promise not to go crazy or anything. We’re meeting in the afternoon, and I’m not a day drinker.”

Dr. Barton gives a little half smile of amusement. “I’m not worried about you ‘going crazy’. Your one night of fun has served its purpose for you, I think. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.”

“No, I don’t think I’m going to do something like that again,” Ginny says, and it feels honest as she says it. 

Dr. Barton smiles again. “I think it’s wonderful that you’ve decided to keep in contact with this girl. I’ll admit I was a little surprised when you said you’d kept in contact.”

“Really?”

“You weren’t too enthusiastic when we started. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for you to put some blame on her even if she was trying to help.”

“I think she thought the same, honestly,” Ginny admits. “But you don’t think she’s a bad influence or anything? She’s the reason I left the party and got into this whole mess.”

Dr. Barton shrugs. “Maybe if she wasn’t there, you would have stayed at the party. You wouldn’t have a video up, but you’d still be faced with the same problem you have now. You’d still be suffering, but no one would know. You felt comfortable enough around this girl to express some pretty serious concerns to her, and your gut feeling was right. She did what she could to help you out. I think she’d be a wonderful influence if you let her be.”

“If I let her be?” Ginny asks. 

“It’s not easy to make friends, and I don’t mean just for people in high stress situations. It takes time and effort from both sides. You’ve been playing baseball your whole life. Your friends are all ball players or somehow related to the league. This girl isn’t. It’ll be a very different experience for you.”

“But I want that,” she blurts out without thinking. It still rings true to her. 

“I’m not criticising you for that. I think it’s good especially with your concerns about baseball. Right now, you have no idea what life for you would be like without baseball in it. You had one night to taste what it might be like without it. One night isn’t enough to compare against an entire lifetime. I think making a friend outside of the baseball world will be incredibly helpful to you. It, also, won’t be easy.”

“So what? You’re saying making friends with Cara is an experiment to see what life would be like outside of baseball?” she says, a little uncomfortable with that line of thought. 

“I think your wild night was the experiment. You didn’t like some things, but you like Cara. I think, if you do find that your effort to be friends with her is beneficial and reciprocated, you’ll have a better idea of what life outside of baseball is like without say, quitting right now to try a year on your own. It’ll be a widening of your perspective. That’s always a part of a good friendship.”

“So it’s the safe way of learning more is what you’re saying.”

“That’s one way to look at it. I think this is a wonderful opportunity for you, but it’s up to you to decide what to do about it.”

Ginny nods, not sure what to say. 

Ginny gets thrown once last curve ball before she gets an afternoon to herself with Cara. Evelyn calls her a few minutes before she’s planning to head out the door after spending the last hour trying to figure out what to wear. Not that she could top a 10,000 dollar dress or anything. 

“So, Blip, being the amazing planner that he is, made a last minute agreement for an endorsement deal with his agent without talking to me first. It’s going to be his loss because me and the boys are going to head to the beach anyways. You in? I know you haven’t been yet, and it is a rare free afternoon.”

Ginny sighs, feeling awful that she has to say this. “I can’t. I’m really sorry.”

“You can’t? Amelia would have told me if you had a thing going on. We’ve gotten real tight since you disappeared on us, so trust me, I would know.”

“It’s personal,” Ginny says. “That’s why Amelia doesn’t know. I told her to make sure my afternoon was free, and that’s it.”

“Is this a date? And you’re not gonna let me vet this guy first? What if you need back up and someone to cockblock for you?”

“Evelyn, relax. There’s no guy and no cocks involved,” Ginny says, nearly laughing. She appreciates the concern, but she has enough boy related trouble going on. 

“Are you hanging out with Amelia or something?”

“No, no, it’s a new friend. We’ve had this planned for a while, and I’m not going to cancel,” she says, and she’s going to leave it there, but then she adds, “It’s Cara. The waitress I hung out with when I left my party.”

Evelyn takes in a loud breath. “Oh my god, you go have so much fun with her.”

Ginny nods. “Blip told you about her.”

“Him and Amelia, they both told me some stuff you told them. We got your back is all I’m saying. Have some fun. Get away for a day. Seriously, enjoy yourself.”

“I will,” she promises, smiling. They say their goodbyes and hang up. 

Alone in her room again, Ginny feels a surge of anxiety over leaving the comfort of her little hotel room. She takes a couple breaths and leaves anyway. She’ll get nothing if she does nothing. She wants this, and she wants it to be good. 

Ginny meets Cara at a coffee shop in a more low-key commercial area of San Diego. Plenty of places to go window shopping up and down the street without having to walk through a ton of people. 

“What do you want?” Ginny asks when they’re in line. 

“You don’t have to get me anything,” Cara says, not offended at all. Just a statement. 

“I think for the gas alone I owe you like ten coffees. Seriously, it’ll be fine. I’m not the one out of a job.”

Cara grins. “I’m actually not out of a job. I got a new waitressing gig at a pub. Tips way better.”

“Congratulations!” Ginny says. “Now, you really have to let me buy you a coffee.”

“Alright, alright, you can get me a medium iced coffee,” she says. 

“Nothing fancy or anything like that?”

Cara shrugs. “No, never really been into the fancy coffees. I just dump some sugar in, and I’m good to go.”

Ginny orders for the both of them, getting a frappuccino for herself. Cara doctors her coffee then they take a seat outside to people watch. 

“I feel like I should say I’ve gotten into baseball or at least figured out what pitchers do for baseball teams, but I really haven’t,” Cara says. 

Ginny laughs. “Do you want an explanation or are you good?”

“I’m good,” she says. “I mean, do you really want the lowdown on how to waitress?”

“Get tips and don’t smack rude people upside the head?” Ginny guesses. 

“Yeah, that’s pretty close.”

“I have learned to tip better. That’s what’s really important about this relationship.”

“Waiters everywhere thank you,” she says, raising her coffee like it’s a toast. 

“They’re very welcome.”

“Now, do we wanna sit here and chill a while, or should we start poking around?”

“Let’s go poke around,” Ginny says. “I am not one for sitting still.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Cara says, laughing as they get up. 

They walk in and out of stores critiquing and complimenting whatever they find. They try on some clothes without buying anything. They discuss the best tv shows and movies they’ve seen. No epiphany happens. No meltdown occurs. It’s just an afternoon of conversation where the sun seems to set too soon. 

Before they part, Ginny asks, “You wanna do this again sometime?”

Cara grins brightly. “I have an idea for what we can do next, yeah. Just text me your availabilities, and we’ll work out a time.”

“Great,” Ginny says, relieved. “I’ll do that ASAP.”

She texts Cara as soon as she gets back home and can take a look at her schedule. 

Ginny finds herself waiting for her next meet up with Cara as much as she looks forward to the next game. Still, it throws her through a loop when Dr. Barton asks, “How was your afternoon out with Cara?”

“Is that important?” Ginny asks. It came up during a lull in the conversation. It’s a pretty normal question. She just doesn’t think Dr. Barton does small talk. 

Dr. Barton shrugs. “You tell me. You hadn’t mentioned it, and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

“It was good,” Ginny says nodding. “We’re going to meet up again.”

Dr. Barton smiles. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

“I don’t think there’s really anything else to say about that.”

“Okay, then we can talk about something else.”

Ginny can’t tell what she’s supposed to say during their sessions still. She’s starting to trust Dr. Barton’s intuition though. She let her lead. 

The day of her next meeting with Cara arrives sooner than she thought it would. There’s no anxiety to be found. She just leaves her apartment and heads out, excited for what will come next with Cara. 

“Ta da!” Cara says as she throws open the door. “My apartment.”

“It looks like a wall,” Ginny says because just an inch beyond the range of the door is a wall. 

“Yeah, I would not have put that there,” Cara says, leading the way in. “But it’s an important wall, unfortunately. The bathroom’s behind it.”

“It’s not bad once you get past the entryway,” Ginny says when she finally gets a good look around the place. She’s been in more hotel rooms than studio apartments, but Cara’s got a good amount of space. The kitchen even has a good amount of counter space taking up the corner against the back wall and the other bathroom wall. 

“Thanks,” Cara says then claps her hands. “Now for the fun part. We are going to make our own pizzas.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I got the dough ready and everything. Splurged a little bit to get healthy toppings or whatever it is pro sports players eat.”

“That’s awesome. I’ve never done this before.”

“Neither have I so hopefully nothing will go wrong.”

“I believe in us,” Ginny says with great confidence, and Cara laughs. 

They save the instructions on the bags the dough came in. Ginny thinks her dough doesn’t ever get flat or circular enough, but she gets her pasta sauce and cheese and toppings to stay on and that’s what counts.

They spend the whole time the pizzas are cooking debating what to watch. They settle on old school sitcoms then get their pizzas out of the oven. 

“What do we think?” Cara asks when they’ve both taken their first bite. 

“Good,” Ginny says even though it’s a little too hot. “Better than take out.”

“I agree.”

They eat their pizza and laugh their way through a few episodes of the sitcom. 

“Wanna switch to a movie?” Cara asks. 

“Sure, you got something in mind?” Ginny asks. 

“Yeah, we can also move to the bed to watch if you want to get more comfortable.”

“You don’t mind?” Ginny asks. It’s a studio apartment so it’s not like Ginny hasn’t already seen Cara’s bed, or that the TV screen is closer to either the couch or the bed. The bed is just a little more private even if it is visible. 

“Yeah, it’s fine. I mean, you’ve slept in my car already. At least I won’t feel like a dick if you fall asleep on my bed.”

“Good point,” she says, not totally comfortable with the memory, but it did end up not being the worst. 

Ginny helps Cara clean up after the pizzas before joining her on the bed. Her comforter is super fluffy and her mattress has to be of better quality than her couch. Cara turns on a romcom for them to watch. 

“Have you seen this before?” Cara asks. “I can switch to something else if you want?”

“I’ve gotten most of my movie watching in during travelling, and we only get older movies dudes like so no I haven’t seen it.”

“It’s good, promise,” Cara says. 

About a quarter of the way into the movie, Ginny realizes that maybe Cara didn’t offer up her bed just for comfort purposes. She keeps cautiously inching her way closer to Ginny like she might not notice if she goes slow. Ginny can’t tell if she wants to stay or leave or ignore it or ask or anything. Then Cara rolls onto her side and puts an arm around Ginny’s waist and nothing more.

Ginny relaxes, slowly but surely. Cara isn’t a ballplayer. Cara’s not even a boy. This won’t hurt her. Cara won’t hurt her. So she takes and releases a deep breath and relaxes. It’s nice to have Cara warm against her side, and she can admit this is better than it would have been on the couch. She almost wishes she could have gotten this the night she ran off. 

“Comfy?” Cara asks in a whisper. 

“Yeah,” Ginny responds. She’s not even paying attention to the movie. She just wraps her arm around Cara’s shoulders. 

She wonders if this is what the guys feel like when they’re with their girlfriends and wives. It doesn’t feel much like it did with her boyfriend. It’s too soft, she guess, in a way it only can be because a man isn’t involved. This isn’t something she’s really done with friends either, not that she’s ever had many. She’s okay with that, though. She’s enjoying this.

The movie ends and the room goes dark.

“Do I need to leave?” Ginny asks. 

“Not if you don’t want to.”

Ginny leaves later than she planned, but she can’t bring herself to regret it or feel guilty for it. It doesn’t go unnoticed. 

“I thought you said you were going to take it easy,” Amelia says, looking her over. “You look a little too tired for taking it easy.”

“I did take it easy. I just did it for too long,” Ginny confesses. She looks up to see Amelia giving her a weird look. “What?”

“I know you’ve made it clear we aren’t friends, and I know I just criticized you for looking tired, but you look pretty darn good otherwise. I’m glad this is working for you. I like it when you have people in your corner,” she explains. 

“Thanks?” Ginny says, not sure what the right response to that is. 

“You’re welcome,” she says and she says it like she’s teasing her. “Unfortunately, there’s no taking it easy today. We’ve got to get a move on.”

Ginny nods. “That’s the pro’s life.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
